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Hunger needed to keep Jets in finals race

Clayton Zane believes the Jets need to show more hunger and fight if they are to secure a place in the A-League Finals Series.

Hunter Ports Newcastle Jets interim head coach Clayton Zane believes the Jets need to show more hunger and fight if they are to secure a place in the Hyundai A-League Finals Series, following Sunday-s 3-2 loss to Wellington Phoenix at Hunter Stadium.

The Jets twice came from behind to draw level against the Phoenix, but their sluggish start eventually proved to be their downfall, with a third comeback proving too big a mountain to climb after Jason Hicks had given Wellington a 3-2 lead in the 71st minute of the contest.

“I said to the boys at half-time that we-re the ones that need to create the atmosphere, you can-t turn up to the ground and expect the fans to lead the way, Zane said.

“It starts on the park and we were just so slow out of the blocks tonight, which based on our training I never thought would happen.

“To be fair to us, we turned it around and got it back to 2-2 and I thought we had control of the game again.

“They-ve got some cleverness in the front third and it was always going to be a difficult one to try and control them.

“They-re in such good form and they-re a hard working team, so credit to them.”

Zane said the Jets only had themselves to blame after basic errors had proved costly against the Phoenix.

“Players get paid good money, coaches get paid good money and you need to turn up,” Zane said.

“This is what you-re paid to do and it-s a big lesson for us and it-s a hard one to take because this game was very important for us to get on the road to make that top six.

“Little turnovers and unforced errors as you would call them, you can-t do that at this level.

“We needed to be tidier with our passing and I think that-s one thing that usually we-re quite good at.

“Today there was just too many of them and if you look at the stats you can-t win matches when you turn the ball over in key areas.”

Zane said he is likely to make changes to the Jets squad for Sunday-s clash with Brisbane Roar at Suncorp Stadium.

“Hoole is suspended, so that forces a change, Emile comes back into the picture for next week and obviously Nick Ward is another one who might not be ready next week,” Zane said.

“There will be a couple of forced changes, but I-ve got people banging on the door and I-ll definitely explore the possibility of making some larger changes, just because we need hungry players out there now. That-s the bare minimum.”

Zane highlighted the performance of Zenon Caravella as an example of the hunger and desire he hoped to see from his players.

"At half-time, Zenon was the one I singled out as the one who we needed to be a bit more like because he ran himself into the ground tonight," Zane said.

"At the back end of the game you could see that his legs started to go and it wasn-t through any fault of his own, it was through hard work and trying to lead and inspire people.

"He-s been excellent since he-s come in and we need more people like him."